Author Archives: News Desk

MNA Business Desk: Emirates has come up with special limited time offers for passengers travelling from Bangladesh to 157 destinations across its global network. The special fares will be applicable for booking between January 8 and 21 for travel between January 21 and November 30, 2019, says a press release received on Wednesday. All inclusive return fare in Economy class travel for Dubai starts from BDT. 50,502, for London and New York from BDT. 80,371, for Rome from BDT. 68,972. As for business class travel, all inclusive fare for Dubai starts from BDT. 193,856, for New York from BDT. 362,752, ...

MNA International Desk: The United Nations has asked Australia to consider refugee resettlement for an 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand saying she feared her family would kill her, the Australian government said on Wednesday. The teenager, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, arrived in Bangkok on the weekend appealing for asylum. Australia said it would consider resettling her if the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deemed her a refugee. “The UNHCR has referred Ms Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun to Australia for consideration for refugee resettlement,” Australia’s Department of Homeland Security said in an email. The department said it would consider the ...

MNA National Desk: Law Minister Anisul Haq on Wednesday said his ministry is taking initiatives again to amend the law for holding trial of Jamaat-e-Islami as a party on charge of committing crimes against humanity during the War of Liberation in 1971. “We’ve formulated a draft of the law. It will be placed in the cabinet once get the Prime Minister’s nod,” said the minister while exchanging views with the reporters at his Secretariat office on Wednesday. He said initiatives are being taken to amend the law to examine if Jamaat is brought to book for justice as a political ...

MNA Culture & Entertainment Desk: The winners of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards have been announced! And we already know that! While the American comedy-drama Green Book topped the award night with three wins, the Freddie Mercury biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma tied with two awards each. In TV, The Kominsky Method bagged two awards, including Best Television Series, in a Musical or Comedy. Lets know the names of all the winners to keep an eye on their good works in 2019 also: -Best Motion Picture (Drama): Bohemian Rhapsody -Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama): Rami ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has taken oath as prime minister of Bangladesh for an unprecedented fourth term as well as third consecutive term. President Abdul Hamid administered the oath to her followed by ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers at his official residence Bangabhaban in Dhaka city at 3:40 pm on Monday. The term of the government that came to power in January 2014 has officially ended after the oath-taking ceremony. A 47-member new cabinet led by Hasina was announced yesterday and all of them are party fellows. Even some heavyweights were dropped from the ...

MNA National Desk: President Abdul Hamid on Monday administered the oath of office of ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers of the new cabinet headed by Awami League president Sheikh Hasina at Bangabhaban. Outgoing prime minister Sheikh Hasina was first sworn in, for the fourth term, at the oath-taking ceremony. The cabinet division on Sunday announced the new cabinet, including 31 new faces and dropping as many as 36 members of the outgoing council of ministers. Twenty four ministers, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers were picked up for the oath-taking, cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said on Sunday. ...

MNA Business Desk: Bangladesh is the 41st largest economy in the world in 2019, according to a UK-based think tank. It is up by twp steps from last year, when the country was ranked 43rd largest economy, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said in a report. The report forecast that Bangladesh would emerge as 36th largest economy in 2023, 27th in 2028 and 24th in 2033. “We expect annual rates of GDP growth (in Bangladesh) to average 7.0% between 2018 and 2033. This will see the country climb 19 places in the World Economic League Table to ...

MNA Science & Tech Desk: Samsung Electronics says that it will add an app to its smart televisions in the coming months to let owners watch content bought on Apple’s iTunes service, a possible first sign Apple is looking to distribute its forthcoming television service on devices made by others. The deal is part of an ongoing strategy shift for Apple, which is facing weak hardware sales in China and a saturated global smart phone market where users are hanging on to their old iPhones longer than ever, hammering its biggest business, according to a Reuters report Monday. As a ...

MNA Sports Desk: India ended a 71-year drought of a test series victory in Australia on Monday, their 2-1 triumph finally confirmed when the rain-affected fourth and final test ended in a draw at Sydney Cricket Ground early on Monday afternoon. The finale may have ultimately have turned out to be a damp squib but Virat Kohli’s tourists utterly dominated what action there was to deservedly become the first side from the Asian sub-continent to take the honors Down Under. Wins in the first test in Adelaide and third in Melbourne ensured they could not lose the series and their ...

MNA International Desk: Former Venezuelan Supreme Court Justice Christian Zerpa has fled to the United States to protest President Nicolas Maduro’s second term that will begin with his inauguration this week, the onetime Maduro backer told a Miami broadcaster on Sunday. The latest defection from the crisis-stricken OPEC nation’s government comes amid growing international pressure on Maduro over his new term, which resulted from a broadly boycotted 2018 vote dismissed by countries around the world as a sham. “I’ve decided to leave Venezuela to disavow the government of Nicolas Maduro,” Zerpa said in an interview with EVTV, which is broadcast ...

MNA National Desk: Garment workers blockade Abdullahpur-Airport road on Monday for the second day demanding implementation of newly announced salary structure, creating a long tailback of vehicles on both sides. Agitating workers had blockade the road on Sunday to press home for their demand. Later, they lifted the barricade following assurance by the authorities of Versatile Garments. The workers again took to the street today as their demand was not met yet, reports a Bangla online news portal. The workers first blockade Gazipur road. But, being obstructed by police, they later, proceeded to Abdullahpur and Uttara at about 11:15am. Witnesses ...

MNA Career & Education Desk: Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal on Sunday took charge as the new registrar of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR). Prior to the new post at BRUR, Kamal retired as registrar of Bangladesh Army International University of Science and Technology, Cumilla, said a press release. The newly appointed registrar today took charges of his office replacing Muhammad Ibrahim Kabeer, registrar of the university. Officials and employees of the university congratulated the newly appointed registrar with wreaths after he assumed office, reports BSS. As per recommendation of the search committee, formed on December 11 at the 59th syndicate ...

MNA Culture & Entertainment Desk: International singing superstar Britney Spears announced on Friday that she is placing her career on hold indefinitely to take care of her sick father. “I will not be performing my new show Domination,” she wrote in an emotional post on Twitter which featured a picture of herself as a young child alongside her parents. Britney was facing lots of ups and downs in her career and the upcoming performances were considered to be very important for her. The sensation of the 1990s and 2000s was due to kick off a series of concerts at the ...

MNA Lifestyle Desk: Working remotely is awesome in that it gives you the freedom to work when and how you’d like. However, sometimes the lack of direct accountability on a daily basis can make it difficult to stay motivated.So how do you find that perfect balance of enjoying the flexibility, but also getting work done in a timely and efficient manner? Here are six tips for how to stay motivated while working remotely. Early to Rise It can be hard to get up early if you don’t have to be at an office at a set time. However, it’s a ...

MNA National Desk: Jaitya Party Chairman HM Ershad, who has been elected lawmaker from Rangpur-3 constituency, took oath today. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath at the parliament around 12:30pm, reported news agency. The JP chief could not take oath “due to illness” on Thursday. However, 21 other members from his party were sworn in as lawmakers of the 11th parliament on that day.

MNA National Desk: The first namaz-e-janaza of Syed Ashraful Islam, former Awami League general secretary and public administration minister of the previous Cabinet, has been held in Dhaka. The namaz-e-janaza, open for all, was held at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban at 10:30am. President Abdul Hamid also took part in the janaza while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, along with other senior female leaders of Awami League, were present in the Sangsad Bhaban premises. His body will be flown to Kishoreganj via helicopter for a second janaza at the Sholakia Eidgah around 12pm. A third janaza will be held ...

MNA Sports Desk: Dhaka Dynamites got an emphatic victory over Rajshahi Kings at their first game in the 5th season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Afghan batsman Hazratulah Zazai and Bangladesh national pacer Rubel Hossain played the pivotal roles to ensure a big win for current BPL runners-up Dynamites. Zazai struck a polished innings of 78 off 41 balls featuring four fours and seven sixe to be adjudged man of the match to received prize money of US dollars 500 while Rubel Hossain took three scalps for seven runs in three overs. Rajshahi ...

MNA International Desk: Rioters in Paris torched motorbikes and set barricades ablaze on the upmarket Boulevard Saint Germain on Saturday, as protests against high living costs and the perceived indifference of President Emmanuel Macron turned violent on the fringes. The latest “yellow vest” marches began peacefully but degenerated in the afternoon as protesters threw missiles at riot police blocking bridges over the Seine. Officers fired tear gas to prevent protesters crossing the river and reaching the National Assembly. One riverboat restaurant was set ablaze and a policeman was wounded when he was hit by a bicycle hurled from a street ...

MNA Business Desk: Hundreds of garment workers have blocked the Uttara road, barring the main thoroughfare to and from Dhaka, reported news agency. The garment workers took to the streets at around 9:00am on Sunday in the Uttara area, said Airport Police Assistant Commissioner Mizanur Rahman. They blocked the road from Azampur to Jashimuddin Road and are calling for a raise in the minimum wage and several other demands. No vehicles have been able to use the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway due to the protest. The block on the movement of vehicles has led to heavy traffic congestion on both sides of ...

MNA Entertainment Desk: The 17th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF)-2019 will kick off on January 10 with the theme ‘Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society’. The inaugural session will be held at the main auditorium of Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh in the city. The Rainbow Film Society will organise the festival where more than 200 international and Bangladeshi films will be screened under the categories of Asian Competition, Retrospective, Bangladesh Panorama, Cinema of the World, Children’s Films, Spiritual Films, Women Filmmakers, and Short and Independent Films. As part of the festival, many filmmakers, actors and personalities from more than ...

MNA Tech Desk: A Chinese lunar rover landed on the dark side of the moon on Thursday, in a global first that boosts Beijing’s ambitions to become a space superpower. The Chang’e-4 probe landed at 10:26am Beijing time (0226 GMT) and sent a photo of the far side of the moon to the Queqiao satellite, which will relay communications to controllers on Earth, state broadcaster CCTV said. Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans to the moon. The Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission – ...

MNA Education Desk: The2HourJob, country’s first online job marketplace for women, launched an online learning platform for the grassroots. “This is such a platform where people from any corner of the country can attain an online certification course. We have launched the programme to meet the growing demand of online learning in the country,” The2HourJob founder Sanjida Khandoker told news agency. Sanjida said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed Thursday with UY lab in this regard. the2hourjob.com is such a platform, where women can get job as per their preference and experience sitting in their respective houses. The website ...

MNA Feature Desk: By the end of the 19th century, the Serbian-American engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla had conceived some of the underlying technology behind alternating current, the induction motor, remote control, X-ray imaging and a host of other crucial Industrial Age technologies, including nearly 300 patents. He’s partly responsible for the fact that most of us have instant access to light, heat, TV, radio and the internet. “He’s an unsung hero,” says University of Oregon professor Brad Garner. “We wouldn’t have cell phones and power in our homes without his work.” Tesla’s vision was even more towering than his ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has been named the leader of the 11th parliament, reported news agency. The newly-elected Awami League lawmakers made Sheikh Hasina the party leader, in the house, during the party’s parliamentary body meeting held there on Thursday. Awami League Secretary General Obaidul Quader proposed Sheikh Hasina as the leader of the party’s parliamentary body; while another member of the party’s advisory council and Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu supported the proposal.

MNA National Desk: Detectives in separate drives arrested two people including a local Awami League leader from Shenbagh and Sadar upazilas early Thursday over the ‘gang-rape’ of a woman after Sunday’s election. The arrestees are Ruhul Amin, former chairman of Charjubli union parishad and also the organising secretary of union unit of Awami League and another Bechu Mia, reports news agency. Md Ilias Sharif, superintendent of district police said a team of Detective Branch (DB) arrested Ruhul Amin from a poultry farm in Sadar upazila in the dead of night. Later, the team conducted another drive at a brick kiln ...

MNA Exclusive Desk: The newly-elected members of parliament (MPs) on Thursday took oath at Jatiya Sangsad. However, Jatiya Oikyafront MPs elect skipped the swearing programme at the oath room that began at from 11:00am, reported news agency. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury delivered the opening speech at the ceremony. The ruling party is scheduled hold a meeting of its parliamentary committee, which will select the leader of the House, who will in turn form the government. Awami League’s parliamentary committee will hold the meeting on Thursday at 12pm, at Level 9 of the Parliament Complex. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina will preside ...

MNA International Desk: One person was killed and at least 15 injured in violence across southern India’s Kerala state which broke out after two women defied traditionalists to enter one of Hinduism’s holiest temples, police said Thursday. Clashes were reported across the state after the two women activists, escorted by police, entered the Sabarimala temple in a surprise pre-dawn operation on Wednesday. The Supreme Court in September overturned a decades-old ban on women of menstruating age—deemed as those between 10 and 50 — setting foot inside the gold-plated Sabarimala temple. Several women activists have made unsuccessful attempts to reach the ...